The use of fatty acids, particularly in orally administered compositions, is beneficial for a variety of health concerns. For example, WO 02/00042, Jandacek et al., published Jan. 3, 2002, describes the use of fatty acids for body weight management. The described approach to body weight management includes orally administered compositions containing a fatty acid, which induces satiety in mammals, thereby reducing food consumption. Other uses of fatty acids have been recently promoted, including the use of omega-3-fatty acids in various compositions for the improvement in, for example, cardiac and skin health.
Unfortunately, however, the formulation of such fatty acids in compositions that are acceptable to consumers is not a trivial matter. Fatty acids are susceptible to instability, including degradation, resulting in rancidity. Moreover, compositions containing fatty acids may be physically unstable, resulting in undesirable separation of various ingredients in the composition. Such instability not only affects the flavor profile of the fatty acid, but can affect the deliverable health benefit as well. Moreover, even wherein the fatty acid remains stable, the fatty acid is often undesirable from a flavor perspective. An example of this undesirability includes omega-3-fatty acids, which can exhibit a fishy off-flavor. It would therefore be desirable to provide compositions that alleviate the problems associated with fatty acid instability and/or undesirable flavor profile.
Certain components are known to provide some level of flavor masking in orally administered compositions. For example, inclusion of strong flavors can mask undesirable flavors to a limited extent. However, these strong flavors are often by themselves undesirable, depending upon consumer preference or the type of composition that is desired, and may not alleviate issues associated with instability.
The present inventors have discovered that compositions comprising a defined protein component and a lipid component containing a fatty acid may be optimized wherein the particle size of the lipid component is within a defined range, as described herein. Indeed, the inventors have discovered that stability may be maximized by providing the lipid component in this defined range. Moreover, the inventors have discovered certain processes which are important for providing a stable composition containing the protein and lipid components. For example, various parameters, including shear conditions and order of addition are important. Accordingly, the inventors have discovered stable compositions containing protein and fatty acid, as well as processes of their preparation. These and other benefits of the present invention are described herein.